Adjusting Griz G0490 Jointer - Help

[Jeff Cord]

I need to adjust the parallelness of my jointer tables (they're just a touch off) and am not quite sure how to go about it.

Their manual says to use "a small hammer and a punch" to adjust the eccentric bushing.

61760

The picture above shows the bushing. There are two notches and two flat spots.

It sounds like the manual is telling me to put a punch in the notch and "hit it with the hammer" to turn the bushing. :eek:

There has to be a better (less potential damaging) way to do this.

Does a tool exist that fits into the notches and allows me to turn the bushing?

thanks,
Jeff

[Pete Brown]

I don't think you'll hurt anything. I wouldn't pound on it, it likely doesn't need much effort to move it.

Pete

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Jeff...I went to the Grizzley site and looked at the manual. They say you can use a pin-head spanner wrench or a punch and hammer. The important thing is to note that there are 2 set screws/allen screws holding each eccentric bushing. You remove the outer set screw and then loosen the inner set screw that was under the one you removed. I think you'll find that once the outer screw is removed and the inner screw is loosened, it'll just take light taps to move the eccentric bushing. I don't think you'll have to hit it hard...just a light tap.

Good luck and let us know how it goes!

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Just a bump for interest sake.....Jeff...have you adjusted this rascal yet? How's it going. Get those beds and the blade co-planer may be a real tedious challenge but once set, they should remain aligned until the next blade change.

[glenn bradley]

The manual should state a "spanner" with the punch being an alternative for those that don't have a spanner. This guys on my short list and if I get one, I'll sure go the extra few bucks for a proper wrench even though I may not use it much ;-)

[John W Parker]

The bushing looks to have two flats on opposite sides . Why not use a cresent wrench or a pair of channel locks?

[Martin Gerber]

I had to adjust my G0490 bed. I used an adjustable wrench on the flat spots. It worked well.

Make sure you have a good long straight edge (36" ideal) and lots of patients. It took me a while before I had it set to where I was happy.

[Jeff Cord]

Took awhile (as others have said).

Once the lock screws were removed and loosened (there are two of them on each bushing) I was able to turn the bushings with a 10" crescent wrench.

A couple of the bushings are in odd positions (actually they have table adjustment locks near them) so I had to use the wrench at an odd angle but no big deal.

Despite this the busings all turned without too much effort.

Once I got the outfeed table adjusted to the cutterhead (it required only a slight adjustment) I then moved on to the infeed table.

This is what took the time because every time I adjusted one bushing (no matter how small the adjustment) I had to re-measure everything and I couldn't make any change to the outfeed table.

I measured at 4 spots on each side of the tables (close to fence and close to front of jointer). Infeed table far from the blades, infeed table close to the blades, and the same two positions on the outfeed for a total of 8 measurements. To measure I used a .0015" feeler gauge.

I found that each time I adjusted one bushing it had a tendency of causing one of the other measurements to go out. For awhile I felt like a dog chasing my tail, but over time I was able to make the adjustment smaller and smaller until it was adjusted.

I also found that my motor was not aligned properly, it was about 1 pulley-width out of line with the pulley on the cutterhead. Fortunately my father-in-law is visiting and he spent about an hour helping get that lined up.

After aligning the motor and tensioning the belt got rid of an annoying SLAP whenver the jointer was turned on. (The SLAP was caused by the belt bowed out toward the lower case when the motor turned on. This bowing was only for a split-second before the belt spun up to speed but it was a really annoying sound.

Once these adjustments were made ran a couple of test boards through and they lined up really nicely with no gaps.

Jeff

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Congrats Jeff! I've been waiting to hear back from you and was hoping things would go well! Adjusting those things to be co-planar can be a pain but once they are done and everything's properly tightened it should be set for a long time!

[Kent E. Matthew]

Jeff I am a welder by trade. Our creed is if it doesnt fit get a hammer. If it still doesnt fit get a bigger hammer, and if it's to small get out the welder. :D

[John A. Williams]

Can you explain how to check the parallelness of the tables. I just ordered my G0490 today and would like to know what to look for.
John

[Jeff Cord]

It's pretty well documented in the manual.

Keys that I found:

Each bushing is locked by 2 screws. Be sure to remove the first, then loosen the second.
Use a good straight edge.
Measure at a number of spots (I measured at 8 spots) and re-measure each time you make a single adjustment.
I lifted the straight edge, put a .0015" feeler gauge down and set the straight edge on top of it. When I pulled the feeler gauge if it pulled the straight edge the alignment was good, if the feeler gauge pulled out without pulling the straight edge, the table was too low in that spot.
Figure out which direction causes the table to move up and down for each bushing. It appears that, depending on the starting position of the bushing, turning one bushing CCL may move the table up while another busing CCL may move the table down.
Make small changes each time.
Be patient.
Another thing I found on the jointer: the motor is pre-mounted in the case. However, it's not vertically aligned so the pulleys are not aligned. Not a big deal but it did take a few minutes to change this.
Good luck.
Jeff